The Ketchum keystone. [volume] (Ketchum, Idaho) 1885-1899, 1887-10-08

who have been following It's col
umns concerning very old people
will be interested in statements re-
Gently made by Don Ignacie Calm
do while in San Antonio. Don
Galindo is one of the ablest jurists
in Mexico, a member of the Su-
preme Court of that Republic,
widely known all through its terri
tory, and, of course, of unimpeach-
able veracity. He spent some days
here renewing old acquaintances
among Mexican citizens, and left
this morning for the City of Mex
leo. Those who met him found
him very companionable old gen.
tleman. Two days ago, on the We
randa of the hotel, the conversation
turned upon human longevity,
when Judge Galindo gave the fol-
lowing account of remarkable
race within the borders of his own
land.
"There is" said he, "in the State
of Vera Cruz, 100 miles to the
northwest of the capital of that
name, a portion of country which
its inhabitants denominate FL Cielo,
or, as you would say in Bnglish,
Heaven They gave it this name
because of its peculiar climatic
conditions. The air, the water, the
elevation, in fact the whole envi-
ronment, is peculiarly conducive
to length of human life. The in
stances of longevity furnished by
its records are perfectly wonder
full, some of them surprising be-
lief. Many have come under my
observation. For instance, one of
the oldest men in the section re-
Gently died. His name was Jesus
Valdonado. farmer and ranchman
of considerable possessions. This
mans age at the time of death was
indisputably one hundred and fifty
four years, which, if | am not mis-
taken, goes considerably beyond
the celebrated DIR. Parr of London.
At Valdonado's funeral the pail
bearers were his three sons, aged
respectfully one hundred and forty.
one hundred and twenty, and one
hundred and ten years. They were
white-haired, but strong and hearty.
Not so with the dead man, who,
during his last twenty years of life,
had broken down rapidly. At the
time of death he was wrinkled,
hairless, toothless, deaf and we'll
nigh blind, and much decreased in
size; in fact a male copy of Hag-
CARDS She after she came out of
the fire and resolved herself into
the missing link between Chin
panzee and Concord philosopher.
By comparison of age you will see
that when ValdOnado's eldest child
was born, he himself was only IA
years of age, something by no
means uncommon in Southern
Mexico. Furthermore, owing, l
suppose, to early puberty and child
bearing, l recollect no instance Of a
woman reaching an excessive age.
"Near the FL Cielo district, thirty
miles away. and separated from it
by a chain of mountains. is a cir
cumscribed area of lowland which
possesses exactly opposite attri-
butes and which is called Ell Infer
no. There forty years makes an
old man of the strongest"
"In Peru" continued Judge Gal
indo, sever since its settlement by
the Spaniards, exact church and
civil records have been kept Of each
birth and death. These records are
absolutely unquestionable. l have
had many opportunities of exam.
lining them, and have made copies
of some of the most interesting.
find in them some instances of hu
man beings reaching the well-nigh
incredible age of two hundred years
and over. l do not ask you to be-
lieve that these records are correct
/ tell you that in my own country
which has been but little explored
there are examples of human Ion
gevity which would upset every
preconceived notion Of the savant.
L.